Amanda Gorman stuns with inauguration poem on 'unity and togetherness'

AT the celebratory yet solemn inauguration ceremony for incoming United States President Joe Biden at the US Capitol, one unlikely figure captured the hearts of many from around the world who watched.

22-year-old Amanda Gorman – not to be overshadowed by celebrity powerhouses Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez – delivered a searing 5-minute poem, titled ‘The Hill We Climb’, on the state of America and the ideals that it can and should aspire to.

Following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Robert Frost and Maya Angelou - the former the first poet to speak at an inauguration in 1961 – Gorman did not shy from the recent troubles that have afflicted the American capital.

“We’ve seen a forest that would shatter our nation rather than share it. Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. This effort very nearly succeeded.”

In fact, Gorman had completed about half of her poem before the January 6 siege of the US Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

“That day gave me a second wave of energy to finish the poem,” Gorman told the AP. 

The poem is filled with references to everything from Biblical scripture to hit play ‘Hamilton,’ and echoed the language of gifted orators such as John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 

“We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour, but within it, we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves so while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe? Now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?”

Following the speech, the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic went trending on Twitter, in reference to both Gorman and new Vice President Kamala Harris. She has received praise from politicians and celebrities for her stirring performance. 

Publisher Penguin Young Readers has announced that ‘The Hill We Climb’ will be published in a special edition soon. 

Two other books are planned to come out in September – the picture book ‘Change Sings’ and a volume of her inaugural poem and other works. 

Soon after reciting the poem, ‘Change Sings’ was number 1 on Amazon.com’s bestseller list, and her poetry collection was number 2. 

At the time, she had about 206,000 Instagram followers and 121.3K Twitter followers. As of this writing, she has 1.9 million followers on Instagram and one million on Twitter.

Born in Los Angeles in 1998, Gorman had a speech impediment as a child, not unlike President Biden.

She became LA's youth poet laureate at age 16. Three years later, while studying sociology at Harvard, she became National Youth Poet Laureate. - The Vibes, January 21, 2021